Well played West Ham, and they continue their strong start to the season. Chelsea were a bit unlucky, I think: they played OK, but they gave themselves too much to do after Matic was sent off at the end of the first half. No complaints about the red card, though, and well done to Andy Carroll for getting his first goal in, ooh, ages. An entertaining game, but Chelsea have problems.
Thanks for reading! Bye.
Full-time: West Ham 2-1 Chelsea
They’ve done it!
90 min + 4: Yellow card for Mikel. That’s it.
90 min + 3: Free kick for West Ham, and they just blam it into touch. Then Begovic’s kick is crap. Less than a minute left.
90 min + 2: West Ham clear, and Payet breaks. Chelsea don’t have much time! John Terry’s playing up front.
90 min + 1: Sakho with a clumsy challenge on Willian, who’s been Chelsea’s best player. Dangerous moments for West Ham!
Noble off, Ogbonna on.
90 min: Payet comes forward, but all of his team-mates are behind him, in their own half. Four minutes of stoppage time.
89 min: Just a couple of minutes for Chelsea. Willian’s ball in for Falcao, but Adrian does well to come out and catch.
88 min: Obiang shoots, and it’s into row Z.
87 min: Baba on for Azpilicueta at left-back, but it’s a West Ham corner. They take it short, but then Zouma has to clear the subsequent cross. Another corner, and this is perfect for West Ham.
85 min: Free kick after Carroll clips Willian. Willian’s ball in, but West Ham hack clear. It’s all hands to the pump!
83 min: I think Chelsea are slightly unfortunate to be down here, but they didn’t defend properly for the goal. Great header from Carroll, though.
81 min: Yellow for Willian, who has been excellent for Chelsea. Lanzini comes off for West Ham, and Obiang comes on. Falcao on for Ramires for Chelsea.
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80 min: Chelsea only half-clear after West Ham look to create something, and Cresswell just hangs it up for Carroll at the back post, who gets above Azpilicueta and heads beyond Begovic. Great header!
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GOAL! West Ham 2-1 Chelsea (Carroll 79)
Andy Carroll!
79 min: Hazard goes down the left, cuts inside, and feeds Ramires, but he can’t get hold of the shot, and it dribbles feebly into Adrian’s arms.
78 min: Eek, that was a bit hairy from Begovic: Terry went back to the keeper, and Begovic’s first touch was crap, so he just poked it out of play for a corner. West Ham can’t make it count, though.
75 min: Payet’s ball in prompts gasps and squeals from the crowd, but no one can get a touch, and it’s a Chelsea goal kick.
74 min: Eden Hazard has been relatively quiet in this game, but I have a suspicion that he’s going to score a brilliant individual goal. There’s my hot take! Kouyate is late on Ramires in the centre circle, and it’s a clear yellow card.
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71 min: Twenty minutes left. Chelsea can still win this.
70 min: West Ham, who were rubbish for the first 15 minutes of this half, have started to push Chelsea back. Payet produces a brilliant piece of skill, but his cross for Carroll is too strong.
69 min: There’s that West Ham change: Carroll on for Zarate.
68 min: Payet cuts inside from the left to try to work a shot, but Zouma tracks him and gets the block in. Top defending. Carroll is ready to be introduced for West Ham.
66 min: Ooh, that was a fabulous ball in, whipped into the six-yard box, but the whistle went against Costa. Willian’s set pieces are excellent, aren’t they?
65 min: Andy Carroll is warming up. Mikel releases Hazard with a good pass down the left, and then Hazard buys a free kick from Jenkinson. Great shielding of the ball from Hazard, and now Willian can put another quality ball in.
62 min: Another excellent ball in from Cresswell, but John Terry gets across to cut it out. West Ham corner, but Chelsea clear.
60 min: Zarate’s effort from Noble’s knockdown, but it’s straight at Begovic. West Ham need to pick it up: they were sluggish in that 10 minutes after half-time, and they paid for it.
58 min: You’d be so annoyed if you were a West Ham fan. Just a routine ball in from a corner, and West Ham just didn’t defend it properly. Adrian didn’t cover himself in glory, either: he might have come and punched that.
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57 min: Willian’s ball in, and Adrian stayed on his line instead of coming for it. Zouma won the first header, and Cahill just reacted quickest, and his shot was hard and true, and Adrian couldn’t keep it out. Game on!
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GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Chelsea (Cahill 56)
The equaliser!
56 min: Willian, who looks the most likely to create something for Chelsea, goes into the box, and wins a corner off Tomkins.
55 min: Zarate goes up for header and Azpilicueta goes down, upset with something or other. Was Zarate’s arm high? Hm. It wasn’t that bad, and the Spaniard will be OK.
53 min: Diego Costa’s boot is high on Tomkins, and it’s a West Ham free kick. Rui Faria is now giving the instructions on the Chelsea bench. Cresswell puts in a brilliant low cross as West Ham look for a second, but Sakho is on his heels, and Chelsea escape: it went right across the six-yard box.
50 min: Trip on Sakho. As in the first half, West Ham seem to be happy dropping deep and hitting Chelsea on the counter.
Here’s Michael Hood: “Feel for you Chelsea fans, but sorry not for Mourinho. It just seems to be snowballing.”
47 min: I think Fabregas is a bit unlucky to be hooked. He played well in the first half and was unfortunate with the disallowed goal. Actually, maybe I misspoke earlier: perhaps Terry wasn’t booked earlier, but we’re told Diego Costa was.
We're back
46 min: A big half for Chelsea, and a change: Mikel on, Fabregas off. And we’re told Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands during half-time for complaining to the officials in the tunnel. All he does nowadays is complain! He’s turned into a bore, Mourinho, hasn’t he?
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Incidentally, in the aftermath of that Matic sending off, Terry and Fabregas were booked for complaining. I know everyone has a different view of these things, but it’s difficult to see how Chelsea can gripe about that red.
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Well, that was entertaining! Chelsea didn’t play badly in that first 45, but they conceded a poor goal, and now they have to play with 10. They were unlucky with the header that was hacked clear by Lanzini – the ball was soooo close from being over the line – and then Fabregas had a goal disallowed for offside, which, again, was really tight, but Matic has left his team-mates in the shit. Two stupid fouls: he deserved to go. He’s a clogger, isn’t he?
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Half-time: West Ham 1-0 Chelsea
And that’s the half. Chelsea are in a hot funk.
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45 min: Well, there’s much commotion, and the Chelsea players aren’t happy, but two clearer yellow cards you couldn’t see. Jon Moss had no option. Now one of Chelsea’s backroom drones has been sent to the stands. It’s all going down the drain for the champions!
RED CARD! Matic (Chelsea)
Oh dear, Jose! Matic, who had been booked earlier for a breathtakingly crude pull on Kouyate, just body checked Sakho on the right touchline. There was a long delay as Jon Moss made his decision, but that was a clear yellow, and Matic walks!
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44 min: It’s given away after the corner is cleared, and now Chelsea break forward at pace … and Fabregas drills one past Adrian! But he’s offside! It was the right decision, probably: Fabregas seemed to just move beyond the last defender as Willian fed him in the inside-right channel. But boy, it’s close: almost impossible to call.
41 min: This game had a rather stodgy 15 minutes after the goal, but it’s really livened up these past few moments. Payet’s been great for West Ham, and Zouma has had a hard time at right-back. Corner to West Ham as Noble scurries down the left.
40 min: What a chance for Lanzini. Payet found him all alone on the left-hand side of the box: Zouma got sucked in as West Ham broke, and Lanzini was clear, free, and tried to dink it over Begovic … he just got too much on it. Glorious chance, and Lanzini hangs his head. They should be two-up!
38 min: Oh boy, that was so close! We were just shown a replay on the goal review system, and a tiny portion of the ball hadn’t gone over the line, so no goal was the correct call. But that was really small margins.
36 min: West Ham keep giving it away, and Fabregas runs in behind, only for Collins to stop him. Corner, and it’s off the line! Zouma won the header, and it bounced up with Adrian beaten, but Lanzini, I think it was, hacked it off the line!
Then West Ham break, and Matic stops Kouyate with a ridiculous shirt-pull that should offend everyone for its cynicism and crudity. Yellow card.
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33 min: Willian’s effort, and it’s beaten away by Adrian. He tried to disguise the free kick, and went to the goalkeeper’s side, but Adrian did fine, and no alarms. Better spell, this, from Chelsea.
31 min: Chelsea look to get Hazard in behind Jenkinson, whose header back to Adrian is errant, and it’s a corner to the visitors. In from Fabregas, and Adrian clears in ungainly fashion, but it was effective, at least. West Ham try to break, but it comes to nothing. Now Ramires is fouled right on the edge of the box, and this is a dangerous area for Chelsea.
30 min: West Ham are being pinned back – they’re defending very deep, and Chelsea are seeing more of the ball. Ramires looks to take on Tomkins, but it’s out of play at the touchline.
Just looking at the goal again: it was a superb shot from Zarate, but it went to the near post, and if we’re being critical, Begovic should have done better.
27 min: Ramires from distance, and it’s over the bar, but that was much better passing from Chelsea, with Matic, Fabregas and Azpilicueta involved down the left.
25 min: Hazard was pushed off it by Kouyate, but no call from Jon Moss, and then Azpilicueta dived in on Lanzini, I think it was, and is booked. It’s just not happening for Chelsea right now.
21 min: Costa just isn’t at it today, and his touch from Fabregas’s pass lets him down. Chelsea need to get Hazard on the ball.
19 min: Zouma looks uncomfortable at right-back, and Payet is causing problems. Jose is prowling the touchline with his collar upturned. That was a bad goal to give up. Two poor pieces of play, and the culprits were Begovic and Costa.
Here’s Ian Copestake: “I hope Costa looking chagrined is a euphemism for Costa getting wound up and looking to chin a defender with the power of his mind. Some cinema savant made a film focusing solely on one footballing great or other, Jimmy Crimble or some such, roaming around the pitch looking all focused and genius-like. I would watch such a film of Costa just for the laughs.”
17 min: What a soft goal for Chelsea to concede. Payet’s corner was really disappointing, but Costa completely missed his kick at the near post, and it went all the way through to Zarate, who struck it really cleanly from the edge of the box, and it went all the way in. Great technical strike, but Begovic was beaten at his near post. Jose’s not happy!
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GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Chelsea (Zarate 17)
Zarate!
16 min: Fabregas trips Payet, who’s been at the centre of things for West Ham. Free kick in a good position, centrally, and Payet wants a shot.
Decent effort! Palmed over by Begovic, who was comfortable. Corner.
15 min: Willian’s corner, and Costa is free, but he can’t direct his header, and it dribbles wide. Maybe the cross was just a little high for him. Chelsea look OK so far.
14 min: Again, Payet looks to go at Zouma, as the pitch mic picks up someone in the stand screaming “Allez! Allez! Allez!” but he’s forced inside, and Matic does well to nip in and win it. Chelsea flood forward, and Willian streaks clear down the right, but his ball in is disappointing. This is more like it: a pleasing ebb and flow.
12 min: Now West Ham move forward, and Kouyate is in quickly to win it in midfield. Cresswell’s cross is blocked by Zouma, but it’s a corner. Payet to take, but it’s not the best, and Chelsea clear without concern.
10 min: Chance for Diego Costa! And it’s a poor attempt, unfortunately. Lovely move, and Costa just ran off the back of Collins from Fabregas’s cushioned pass, but he spanked it well over the bar. It sat up nicely for him, and he had time: should have done better, and Costa looks chagrined.
8 min: Payet has a couple of times gone down the left to get at Zouma. But Chelsea look comfortable enough so far. No real openings in the opening eight minutes.
5 min: Space for Payet, from Cresswell’s clever pass, and he looks to go at the defence. His shot was high, but that was a large pocket of space in front of Chelsea’s back four. Bring back Claude Makelele!
3 min: Zouma went in hard on Payet, but no whistle, and the fans are restless. “You’re ‘aving a larf, ref!” some of them may or may not be saying. This game hasn’t quite settled down yet.
2 min: Willian is fouled by Lanzini. No card for the Argentinian, but it should have been: it was a clear pull back as the Brazilian looked to break.
And we're off
1 min: It’s on! West Ham fans, as usual, singing I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, and, as usual, getting the timing all wrong. There’s not a long enough pause between “die” and “bubbles”! What would Simon Rattle say?
The players are in the tunnel. Minutes away.
Here’s Chris Taylor: “Tim, I think a lot of people wanted to see Baba play until he did last week. Er, one for the future, perhaps.”
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My hot prediction: Chelsea to win. I think Hazard, Fabregas and Willian could cause problems for Tomkins and Collins on the break. Punditry!
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Eleven minutes till kick off. Ho hum.
Let’s also talk about Dimitri Payet. What a great player, and at 28, maybe slightly surprising that he wasn’t picked up by a Premier League club before this summer. (He’s twice been named in the Ligue 1 team of the year, so it wasn’t as though he was a total unknown.) Also, he’s from Réunion, just like Florent Sinama Pongolle and Laurent Robert. But he’s better than those two!
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Let’s talk about Chelsea’s defence. Is Branislav Ivanovic shot? The man with hams for forearms has had what British tabloid newspapers generally describe as a “torrid time” this season, and he’s been junked. (He’s injured today, so he’s not involved.) But also, this business of right-footed defenders playing left-back … I think Cesar Azpilicueta is a terrific defender, one of the best in the league, but I think Chelsea just look unbalanced in defence without a natural left-footer on that side. How about: Azipilicueta, two from Cahill, Zouma and Terry, and Baba, the Ghanaian youngster from Augsburg?
Because I am a company man, here’s a plug for the Guardian’s Saturday clockwatch: keep up to date with all the goals etc etc:
So Eden Hazard is in for Chelsea, and Mauro Zarate starts for West Ham instead of Chelsea loanee Victor Moses, who is ineligible. Does Chelsea’s bench look a little thin?
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Teams
West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Tomkins, Cresswell, Noble, Kouyate, Lanzini, Payet, Zarate, Sakho. Subs: Randolph, Carroll, Valencia, Obiang, Ogbonna, Jelavic, Antonio.
Chelsea: Begovic, Zouma, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Matic, Ramires, Willian, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa. Subs: Baba, Oscar, Falcao, Mikel, Traore, Amelia, Loftus-Cheek.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
Hello and welcome
Chelsea are the champions, but they sit in 12th. So lowly! West Ham are not champions – in fact, they’ve never won the league, ever. But they’re in fourth, and they’re playing well: Slaven Bilic has been a marked improvement on (Big) Sam Allardyce, and they’ve got some good players, not least Dimitri Payet, who is quick, skilful, and scores goals. Chelsea better watch out: they need a win, and it’s not certain they’ll get it. This should be a goodie. Kick off’s at 3pm BST/10am ET. Join me!
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s why Jose Mourinho feels disrespected:
